Chapters

Chapters, most books have some kind of chapter separation. However, I have read some that don’t. When should you use chapters? Have you decided whether to or not?

Personally, I chose to use them in fact so far I have…like twenty-eight chapters in a four hundred and some page novel. Which to be honest I just decided recently based on advice from my beta reader that maybe I need just one more. The problem is that a certain chapter seems a little lengthy. There’s great elements to it but it needs to be split into two because the way I set up my chapters makes it too long.

If you look it up…like most of us writers do when we want to make sure a publisher will be interested in the future…you will see that there are many confusing standards for a chapter length. That’s right the internet failed us on giving us a guideline to follow on chapters because they all seem to contradict each other…

1. The first common misconception is that you even have to have chapters in the first place. The reality is that you don’t. I mean I personally believe in separation between scenes helps to guide the reader but you can do it with a symbol in between sections. Or even a name to show the character change. I’m currently reading a book called ‘Practical Magic’. (As I’ve said before I read/write in many genres lol. I’ve been reading this for months though. Not because it’s a bad read or anything but because I’ve been a little busy…with well…my own book lol.) In that book it is separated into sections by a page with only a title of what’s to come in the next section and then symbols in between scenes. Some could argue that, that sounds like chapters but the separation is so abrupt and apparent. It’s not as subtle as a chapter beginning and the sections are way longer than any possible guideline of a chapter might be. Which is fine with me, I enjoy seeing new ways (well new to me) to structure a novel.
   
2. Another is measured by pages. Some say ten pages is best. Others no more than eight, and others even twenty. There is no general consensus to follow. It’s all a matter of opinion.
   
3. Finally there are articles that talk about a word count. It’s a suggestion for some to make it either between 1,000 – 5,000 words. Or between 3,000 – 4,000 words. Or 1,000 – 3,000. Again, it’s confusing right?

Well here’s what I found out….

It’s all based off opinion and not fact! You may say, ‘oh no I’ve read so and so’s guide to writing and it says to stick to a certain amount’. Again, I say it’s their opinion, there is no set standard. Have chapters or don’t it’s really just up to you. Make them as long or as short as you want. It’s your story that keeps people interested not the chapter length, and word count. I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve picked up a book and was slightly put off by the fact that there was no chapter structure (because I am a little OCD at times lol) but the story drew me in so much that I forgot about worrying about it.

So I challenge you to do something….grab 10 books all by different Authors and compare their chapters. By how they are separated, by either word count or pages, and whether or not they even have them. As an Author I understand the insecurities associated with writing, especially when you’re first starting out. You are afraid to go outside of the box sometimes. As a new author it can feel like you are supposed to follow a certain rule or guideline to be a best selling author. But when you start comparing others published works you start to notice that many contradict how you thought a novel was supposed to be structured.

It takes time to get comfortable with thinking outside of the box but when you get there it can be freeing. Have confidence in yourself and your writing. If you are willing to put in all the hard work and you took the time to read this to broaden your mind to all different ways to write than you are ready for anything. Sometimes it helps to ‘know’ that you are doing something right. However, in our case as writers we just have to have faith in ourselves. Know that if we love what we write than that amount of love and nurture that we put in what we do will be enough to make others fall in love with our worlds in our novels. So write the way you love and break the mold on what’s normal because who wants to be normal anyways? It’s a lot more fun to be different.

P.S. Just this past week I finally started my Author Tube channel on YouTube. It was in the plans from the moment I started my blog and Facebook but it took a bit to get it going. But it’s finally done….Yay!!! Lol…I just posted my first video. The second video will be posted Thursday…I am trying to post once a week for now every Thursday… This next week will be a continuation of this post as well as other info. That way I can go more in depth into knowing how to split up a book into Chapters, if that’s what you plan to do. My channel is called ‘Tiffany D Writing Journey’ to combine both my Facebook Page and my Blog. The information on there will be both about my Journey and some writing tips as well. Giving you extra content along side this blog and my Facebook. Thank you so much for all of your support.

Thank you for reading my blog….

Until Next time…JUST KEEP WRITING.

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